Caption: “Now let’s see, where did we leave off yesterday?”
Sorry about the bad image. I’ll be working on getting a better scan for this.
“I think my little talk with him may have motivated him. He uncrossed his arms a couple of hours ago.”
(by Lee Lacewell)
My original caption: “He received an Error Message on his computer yesterday, and he hasn’t moved from there since.”
Congratulations, Lee Lacewell, on your second victory in Eli’s Cartoon Caption Contest. Your first win was in August 2023, in Contest No 202. Once again you can bask in the glory of being one of the funniest people around.
Here are the other entries that I was seriously considering for top honors:
“My husband’s new theme song: I got plenty o’ nuttin, and nuttin’s plenty for me.” (by Diane Weisman)
“He wanted to do all his favorite things before the tariffs kicked in.” (by Jonathan Stein)
“He started on a La-Z-Boy and graduated to a La-Z-Man.” (by Joe Ayella)
“On the positive side, I always know where to find him.” (also by Joe Ayella)
“I really wish he wouldn’t eat crackers in bed.” (by Silvana Lagrotteria)
“He’ll wake to place his lunch order very soon.” (by Michael Lomazow)
“He’s the big spud of couch potatoes.” (by Pat Foley)
“He was devastated by the ending of White Lotus.” (by Kelly Nagle)
A few SHOUT-OUTS:
First, to Captioneer Joe Ayella, who really scored a huge one. He recently won the New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest, as announced in their March 10th issue. As Caption Contests go, Joe, you can’t get any higher than that. Big congrats!
Second, Captioneer Mark Schaeffer was a cash prize runner-up last week in Bob Mankoff’s CartoonStock Caption Contest. That’s the way to go, Mark. Congrats!
Also, while I’m writing about Mark Schaeffer, I’m pleased to report that he did some outstanding detective work recently. He found several published versions of some of my King Features Syndicate “Laff-A-Day” cartoon panels, some of which go back to the 1970’s. I didn’t have them, and I thought they were lost forever, but he managed to track a few of them down and now I’ll be able to add them to my archive. Many, many thanks, Mark!
The next Contest will be posted in due course, Captioneers, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks for participating!
Contest No. 224 starts right now.
Here are the details: I’ll supply a drawing of one of my old cartoons that has never been published, leaving off my caption. You are invited to supply your funniest captions. To enter, simply (1) click on “See Comments and Add Your Own”. Then (2) scroll down past any other submitted captions and type your name and your caption in the spaces provided. Then (3) click “Save”. There is no charge to submit captions, and the only prize is the honor of being one of the funniest people around.
Your caption (or captions) will be posted after I review your submission. However, no captions at all will be posted for the first few days of each contest. This will give everybody a chance to submit their spontaneous, gut-instinct caption without fear of discovering that it was ripped off by somebody else’s similar spontaneous, gut-instinct caption. Every posted caption has an indication of the date and time it was received. This is an equal opportunity contest!
There is no limit on the number of captions you may enter, but I will only post and consider the first 15 captions from any contestant. Entries will be accepted and posted for one week, after which the winning caption will be announced and printed and I will also reveal my original caption. I am the sole judge and the winning caption will be the one I deem to be the funniest one submitted (not necessarily the one that matches or comes closest to my original caption).
The cut-off time and date for you to send in your captions is midnight Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Below is the drawing that needs your funny captions. Good luck, Captioneers!
This is another gag I sold to King Features Syndicate for their “Laff-A-Day” panel. The only thing I know about it is that it was purchased in 1977 and was scheduled for printing on October 12th of that year. KFS never returned my finished drawing or my rough drawing and I didn’t make a copy of either of them. Nor do I have a tearsheet of the published cartoon.
The above drawing is an old version of the gag that I had in my files, and the published cartoon probably looked something like this. I would love to see a printed version of the cartoon, in the unlikely chance that anyone out there has an archive of very old KFS “Laff-A-Day” panels.
“Anyway, it’s called bungee jumping.”
(by Pat Foley)
My original caption: “Whoa . . . there’s been a terrible mistake. Only the character I played in a soap opera was supposed to be killed off.”
Congratulations, Pat Foley, on your fifth victory. Your very first win was not that long ago, in Contest No. 178, so you’ve really been racking those wins up in a fairly short time. Keep it up . . . and remember to remind everyone that once again you have been officially declared “one of the funniest people around.”
Here are the other submitted captions that I judged to be worthy of serious consideration:
“Wait, you’re not putting that on my permanent record, are you?” (by Anya)
“I plead the fifth.” (by Diane Weisman)
“Do you have my email address?” (by Harvey Appelbaum)
“Please note that I’m allergic to gluten.” (by Michael Lomazow)
“You don’t check my Twitter posts, right?” (by Jonathan Stein)
“Did you just say, ‘How are you?’” (also by Pat Foley)
“Well . . . would you ever consider ‘return to sender’?” (by Bruce Morgenstern)
“While I was driving to work I selected ‘UPDATE NOW’ on my navigation app, then here I am.” (by Lee Lacewell)
“Can I keep my phone?” (by Joe Ayella)
“Is this what you do when you’re not delivering presents?” (by Ally Nagle)
“What do you mean I can’t get in until I pay off my student loans?” (by Ally and Rich)
“I guess this will be my final user ID and password?” (also by Joe Ayella)
Contest No. 224 will be up and running in due time, Captioneers . . . keep up the good work and thank you for participating!
Contest No. 223 starts right now.
Here are the details: I’ll supply a drawing of one of my old cartoons that has never been published, leaving off my caption. You are invited to supply your funniest captions. To enter, simply (1) click on “See Comments and Add Your Own”. Then (2) scroll down past any other submitted captions and type your name and your caption in the spaces provided. Then (3) click “Save”. There is no charge to submit captions, and the only prize is the honor of being one of the funniest people around.
Your caption (or captions) will be posted after I review your submission. However, no captions at all will be posted for the first few days of each contest. This will give everybody a chance to submit their spontaneous, gut-instinct caption without fear of discovering that it was ripped off by somebody else’s similar spontaneous, gut-instinct caption. Every posted caption has a notation as to the date and time it was received. This is an equal opportunity contest!
There is no limit on the number of captions you may enter, but I will only post and consider the first 15 captions from any contestant. Entries will be accepted and posted for one week, after which the winning caption will be announced and printed and I will also reveal my original caption. I am the sole judge and the winning caption will be the one I deem to be the funniest one submitted (not necessarily the one that matches or comes closest to my original caption).
The cut-off time and date for you to send in your captions is midnight Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
Below is the drawing that needs your funny captions. Good luck, Captioneers!
This is another one of those gags that King Features Syndicate bought from me a long time ago — in the year 1967, to be exact. Of course, I had to do a finished drawing from my “rough”. KFS didn’t return my finished drawing or my rough and I didn’t make a copy of either of them. Nor do I have a tearsheet of the cartoon from the day that it was published. In my files, I found this older sketch of the gag, which may or may not be close to what my finished drawing looked like. If anybody has a copy of this “Laff-A-Day” printed cartoon from 1967, I’d love to see it.
This is not the finished drawing of the cartoon as it appeared in print. It is an earlier version of the gag from my files. I sold the cartoon to King Features in November 1977, but I had to do a finished drawing. I don’t have a copy of that final drawing, nor do I have a tearsheet of the printed cartoon. All I know is that it was scheduled to be published in “Laff-A-Day” on February 10, 1978.
So if anyone happens to have a copy of it (ha ha!), I would certainly appreciate seeing it.
UPDATE: Thanks to the spectacular detective work by Captioneer Mark Schaeffer, who sent me a copy of this KFS cartoon that was published on February 10, 1978, I can now add it to my archive. Here it is. As you can see, there is no significant change in the layout of the drawing, but I shortened and revised the caption from my original sketch of the gag.
Many thanks, Mark, for sending this published cartoon and the others that you were able to find. I greatly enjoyed seeing them all, and will be adding them to the archive in the future!
“I thought we were keeping this relationship quiet.”
(by Michael Lomazow)
My original caption: “I think it’s for one of our daughters.”
Big congratulations, Michael Lomazow, on this, your sixth victory. Your last triumph was in Contest No. 200, back in June 2023, and it’s great to have you in the winner’s circle once more. You can now bask in your glory — you are once again one of the funniest people around!
Here are the other captions that almost made it:
“I get the hint.” (by Diane Weisman)
“It’s your Not-So-Secret Admirer.” (by Joe Ayella)
“It might be a prank or it might be cause for divorce.” (also by Joe Ayella)
“This ain’t right . . . I ordered you e-chocolates and an e-card online!” (by Lee Lacewell)
“He said he’s been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.” (by Jonathan Stein)
“It’s something that WILL go to ‘waist’, sweetheart.” (by Pat Foley)
“Is this payback for the power saw I got you for Christmas?” (by Scott Malcolm)
“They are all coconut or maple. It was a huge sale.” (by Mark S.)
“Your cheatin’ heart . . . just told on you.” (by Gary)
On a final note, my congrats also go out to Captioneer Joe Ayella, who this week was selected for not one, but two, prize-winning runner-up captions in Bob Mankoff’s CartoonStock Caption Contest. Way to go, Joe!
Contest No. 223 will be posted in due course, Captioneers, so be on the lookout for it. Many thanks for participating.
If you would like to reprint any cartoon found on this site, please contact me at elilast@verizon.net. Reproduction or publication for commercial purposes of any of the cartoons on this site without prior permission is strictly prohibited.
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